NYPD Sued Over Spycams; Video 911?

Wednesday, 17 September 2008 09:53

The New York Police Department is happy to talk about its plans to ring lower Manhattan with thousands of security cameras. But the Department won't say exactly where the cameras are, or what will be done with the data. So now the New York City Liberties Union is suing the NYPD, to force 'em to fess up on the spycams.

“The NYPS is planning blanket surveillance of millions of law-abiding New Yorkers, but it refuses to disclose even the simplest details of this costly proposal,” the NYCLU's Donna Lieberman tells the New York Times. “A plan of this scope, expense and intrusiveness demands robust public debate and legislative oversight. The public has a right to this information.”

So why won't the NYPD just share its plans? Well, let's just say they're not too fond of the NYCLU over at One Police Plaza. So I'm sure the incentive to cooperate is rather low. But here's another guess: The plans are being kept close because they'll reveal that the camera system won't work quite as well as advertised.